The Walls Have Ears
by sponsormusings
Summary: Katniss Everdeen had won the 73rd Games, Peeta Mellark the 74th, & the relationship that blossomed between Mentor & Victor had captivated the people of Panem. But at their first Reaping Day as mentors together, they're faced with the consequences of their previous actions against President Snow & the Capitol. Prompts in Panem Day 3 - Gluttony.


"Primrose Everdeen."

The first name was called, and Katniss felt the lance of pain spear through her. It shivered down her spine, tingled in her fingertips until they felt numb. _No. Nothing but this. Surely it couldn't be..._

But it was, and deep down she knew it would happen all along, ever since that aged parchment had been read on television all those months ago. Snow had found a way to punish her, more effective than she could have ever imagined.

Despite everything inside her breaking and splintering into a million pieces, she held herself together as Prim's sobs echoed through the square; she remained impassive, her face a blank slate. Peeta had helped her regain that over the last year. Had said it was important for them to create a shield, a way for the Capitol not to know their true thoughts and feelings.

Especially not with the information that was slowly but surely filtering through from 13.

_But oh god, Prim._

She watched her young, innocent sister slowly walk up the steps, her long blonde hair in a sleek braid - that she herself had created only an hour before - her cornflower eyes brimming with tears. For a split second she saw another girl, one careful to hide her fear, one who lasted in the games so much longer than expected.

One she had watched die in Peeta's arms.

She shook her head, blinking back the tears that threatened to spill over and kept her eyes trained on Effie's hand as it dipped into the bowl, the cobalt blue glove the escort wore standing out starkly against the pure white of the dozen folded slips. She held her breath, knowing that regardless of who it was, she didn't want to hear it, didn't want to hear whoevers name was called.

Katniss felt Peeta shift subtly on the chair beside her, and wanted to reach out to him, wanted to curl her fingers into his and tell him it would be ok, wanted him to say the same. But she was frozen and couldn't tell him something she knew wasn't true, so she didn't say anything at all.

The microphone squealed and the feedback reverberated around the square as Effie returned to it, tapping on it lightly with her gloved hands.

"And our final tribute for this year's Hunger Games..." she held her breath for a moment as if to draw out the suspense, but Katniss knew better. She could hear the falseness in the escorts' bright tone. "Rory Hawthorne."

The blood rushed to her head, her body felt limp and boneless. Once again, she should have known.

The odds were not in her favour, and they hadn't been since Peeta had come home to her. Hadn't been, really, not since she'd stood on stage and been crowned Victor.

Peeta's fingers clenched hers at Effie's announcement and he dragged her to her feet, guiding them towards the front of the stage. He lined them up beside the escort, and they stood in a row - Effie, Prim, Katniss, Peeta and now Rory, his shock of black hair shining in the sun, his mouth a firm line, one that made him look more like Gale than ever before.

Here they were again, at the start of another games. Katniss swallowed heavily and stared out into the silent crowd, knowing out there, somewhere, was her Mom and Gale and Hazelle, their worst nightmares now a reality.

They all knew a victor from the same district three years in a row was an unlikely event.

Especially when it was a Quarter Quell.

* * *

The door slid shut behind her, blocking out the chatter of Capitol staff, of Effie demanding a fresh stack of towels immediately. Katniss closed her eyes, took a deep breath. She was careful not to say anything, not even to herself.

The walls had ears.

The afternoon had passed in a blur. Prim and Rory had said their goodbyes to the Hawthornes, to Mrs Everdeen, and a variety of friends, as Katniss and Peeta completed the paperwork the Capitol required. She'd gone through the motions, tried to forget that her sister had been reaped - again. That she was likely to be going to her death, that everything she'd done for the last two years had, ultimately, been for nothing. She'd wanted Peeta desperately, for him to calm her fears, but they hadn't had a moment to even nod at each other, let alone talk.

While Peeta officially lodged the paperwork with the Justice Building, she'd been required to give an interview to the media crew that had arrived with Effie, replying grimly to their inane queries. Skipping between questions of her sister being a tribute, the 'excitement' of a Quarter Quell, and her relationship with Peeta. Pity in the eyes of one of the crew had almost sent her over the edge, but she'd kept it together.

Barely.

The drive through town to the station had been a solemn one, and she'd kept her gaze firmly trained on the car in front of her that contained Effie, Prim and Rory. She'd felt guilty, felt like it was her fault, felt like the eyes of the crowds were staring at her accusingly, that it was she and not President Snow that were sending these two young people to their deaths.

Especially when one of them shouldn't have even been there in the first place.

Now, she was finally alone on the train, and she rested her head against the wall, remembering Rory and Prim's wide eyed wonder as they took in their elaborate surroundings of the train, the plush burgundy loveseats, the gilded edges on the window frames, the mountain of pastries and fruit and cakes that were spread out on a shining mahogany sideboard.

_Oh god, Prim was going to die._

A gentle knock on her door startled her from her thoughts, and she reached out for the button to release it - it slid open with a soft, almost imperceptible swish, then closed quickly again. She shifted her head to see Peeta standing there, arms hanging limply by his side. His face was impassive, but it was his eyes, that bright blue that calmed her, that brought her back from the edge whenever she got too close, that told the story right now.

He had just experienced his first reaping, on the other side, from a different perspective. And it was killing him.

Peeta moved to her, slid his arms around her shoulders, pulling her head against his chest. It took a moment, but hers slowly moved around him, until they were wrapped around his waist and their bodies shuddered with echoing sobs.

"Katniss," he breathed. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

"Don't." She shook her head. "I can't think about it yet, can't let it in. We have to get through dinner first. I can't...I can't let Prim see me cry."

"It doesn't change that I'm sorry. She's...she's as much a sister to me as she is to you." The lump lodged in her throat, and she closed her eyes. He was right. He was effectively losing a sister as well. "And Rory. Katniss, he isn't even-"

With wide eyes, Katniss glanced up at him and shook her head, stopping his words before he could say them. _He isn't even your relative._

They said nothing for a few moments, nothing but exhalations of air and suppressions of sobs piercing the silence. "Oh god, how the hell have you done that two years in a row?" Peeta finally muttered.

She shook her head against his chest. "I just have. There is no choice, remember. I just... I just can't believe they made you mentor. I was certain they'd select Haymitch, give you a reprieve for another year."

He scoffed lightly, though his voice still broke with unshed tears. "Throw me in immediately, I suppose. Imagine the ratings, with the Lovers from District 12 being mentors together for the first time." Peeta pulled back slightly, forcing her to look up at him. She watched as he studied her, as he searched for an answer on her face she was certain she didn't have. His eyes finally slid over to the bathroom door, and tipped his head towards it. He didn't have to indicate to her twice.

Slipping her hand into his, they moved into the bathroom, unsurprised to see that it had been redecorated from last year, just as Katniss' bedroom had been. Its walls were a mosaic of various shades of pale green, making the room appear like a valley covered in moss, the shower resembling a waterfall and even bigger and more elaborate than the year before. She programmed the buttons so that the stream from the shower was pounding, heavy enough to cover even their loudest whispers. She turned with a sigh to Peeta, who was discreetly trying to rub his eyes.

"Don't hide them from me," she said softly, as a lone tear tracked down her own cheek.

He nodded, dropping his hands and leaning against the bench. "You know they were going to send me as mentor this year, the moment I won. You know they'll do anything to get to us. Why do you think the Quell was set up the way it was? 'Family members of remaining victors'? God, the only thing more abhorrent would be to send victors in again."

Katniss shuddered, shaking her head frantically. "Don't say things like that, Peeta. Don't. I never want to think about-" She cut off as his hand reached for hers, squeezing tightly.

"Sorry. But it's true. As it is...I've spent the last few months resigning myself to the fact that we'd be mentoring Prim in there."

Katniss nodded grimly, choking back another sob. "Me too. Deep down, I knew it. I thought maybe they wouldn't, that it would seem too suspicious that the same person was reaped again. But they don't care for subtlety, do they? Snow has made it quite clear that he has no intentions of letting me get away with anything. I've shown him up one too many times now."

"But for both to come from your 'family'? Shit, Katniss. Rory is being sent in there, and the Capitol knows full well that he isn't your real cousin. Me? I had no brothers to reap, but had 4 female cousins and 6 male cousins. You just had Prim, and Vick and Rory. And both ended up being from..." He trailed off, rubbing his hands across his face again. "I just feel so guilty."

Despite the anger and hurt and all-encompassing heartache that was filling her to the point where she just wanted to curl into a ball and sleep and never wake up, she crossed to him. "Don't say that, Peeta. It isn't your fault, and we both know Snow hates me more than he hates you. You did what you had to do to survive - I did what I could to defy him at every turn. I...felt certain on Prim. And although I've had the last few months to almost come to terms with it, it doesn't make it any easier to understand. I didn't want to think of Rory or Vick. But now, it only makes sense. Snow's punishing me for the lies we told with that decision."

"But you didn't make it up that you were cousins, they did," Peeta replied almost imploringly and she shrugged.

"It doesn't matter. I went along with it. I may have been the Victor that year, but they needed a reason I spent so much time with Gale back in 12 - and now I know what their intentions were for me after the games, I understand why they made him my cousin. Why have a potential boyfriend standing in the way when they planned to...planned to..." Even after all this time, she couldn't seem to say the words. "I went along with it, we all did. And I'm now paying the price for it. I'm paying the price for everything. You're paying the price. Prim and Rory are too. We just...just have to hope that what Haymitch has been hearing from 13 is true." This time, she couldn't stop the sob that broke from her throat, and with it, the flood of tears. Everything she'd done, everything she'd worked for, everything she'd hoped to avoid was coming true, and there was nothing she could do.

She sank onto the tiled floor, not flinching when Peeta's arms came around her, as her tears soaked his shirt and his fell silently onto her hair.

* * *

She watched as Rory stuffed another roll into his mouth, accompanied by a handful of rice that he didn't even bother to use a spoon for. He reached for the glass brimming with a raspberry coloured liquid, and downed it in one gulp, before letting out a burp that, back home, would have caused Hazelle to give him a stern look before discreetly grinning to herself. As it was, Effie huffed loudly; mumbling expectedly about manners, but there was no heat behind her words. Not anymore.

Prim was no better. Though they had had a limitless supply of food in Victors Village for the last two years, the heaping spread in front of her was something else, and Prim shovelled Katniss' own favoured stew into her mouth with abandon. After years of budgeting and rationing and only eating until they were full, not bursting, the heaped platters of pastries the colour of buttered honey, the huge turkey that took centre stage on the table, the rich red strawberries dipped in warm chocolate that spilled out of a golden bowl, the bubbling jugs of liquid every colour of the rainbow - any and all of it would be tempting to even the most seasoned of Capitol guests. She'd seen that for herself, Katniss mused, with the little drink available at every Capitol banquet to alleviate their overabundance, their gorging, their disregard for the simple pleasures in life that many could never dream of taking for granted. It still made her sick to the stomach thinking of it.

But anything was better than thinking of Prim going into that arena.

She swallowed heavily again as she felt the desperation rise in her chest - _she couldn't let Prim see her cry, wouldn't give those bastards in the Capitol the damn satisfaction_ - and reached for Peeta's hand under the table. He was her rock, her hope, the only thing getting her through this. She didn't have Haymitch's scowls, or jibes, or pointed remarks to help her this time. This time, Peeta was all she had, and she was all he had. Once again, her only plan was to beat the Capitol at their own game. She still wasn't sure how.

But with Peeta, she was sure they could figure it out.

* * *

_A/N - This outtake is a scene that popped into my head when I began thinking about what could happen in the future after the events of Stacked Odds. It diverts even more from canon in the respect that it's not Peeta and Katniss going into the Quarter Quell._

_But as I hope to expand on this in the near future, I'll be able to show my reasons for selecting to go this way :)_

_I hope you're all enjoying PiP! There are some amazing stories!_


End file.
